SnoTap Golf: Previewing the Tour Championship

I have to start with the bad news. What has been one hell of a 2013 PGA Tour season is coming to an end this weekend. We find ourselves on the doorstep of the 2013 Coca-Cola Tour Championship and the expectations could not be any greater.

Last week, we had somewhat of a disappointing finish. Not because of the players, but due to Mother Nature once again delaying a tournament and forcing a Monday finish. This was good for some and terrible for others. Zach Johnson fought his way to the second best final round, and his first victory of his 2013 campaign. I have never found myself as a huge Johnson fan but the clutch performance he displayed in his BMW win earned him a whole hell of a lot of respect in my book.

He was paired up with last year’s FedEx Champ and the first round leader, Brandt Snedeker. He took a page out of Brandt’s book on Monday, and putted his brains out. With that victory, Zach shot himself to fourth place in the FedEx Cup standings and gave himself a chance to control his own destiny this week at the Tour Championship.

When Zach was asked about East Lake he said, “It is a beast. It is awesome”. If that does not explain to you the magnitude of this week’s event, I do not know what will. Tiger Woods, Henrk Stenson, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, and Matt Kuchar all have earned enough points to control their fate come Sunday. The other 25 men competing this week will need some help to get atop the podium but everyone has a fighting chance. To open your eyes to the field a bit more, here are my three favorites to win the tournament, one from each tier of competitors.

The ‘last’ tier contains the players ranked 21-30 in FedEx Points. Their odds of winning the championship may be slim but that does not mean they cannot win this tournament. I like Luke Donald here. Luke is coming off a final round 66 last week, where everything seemed to be coming together for the Englishman. Donald has shown well here the last three years, carding three Top 3 performances in as many years. If he can keep that putter hot and avoid those blow up holes, Luke should find himself right in contention of getting his first victory on the season.

The middle tier of players holds a decent chance at winning the season-long crown if they can get the all-important victory here. Hunter Mahan seems to fit the bill. Hunter is the only man to play in every tournament of the FedEx playoffs since its conception in 2009. That kind of consistency is what it takes to win in these types of settings. Mahan is coming off a fourth place finish last week, where he also gathered a coveted hole in one. He has found himself in the final pairing in big tournaments this year but he is going to have to fight those yips to get a 2013 victory under his belt and contend this weekend.

My favorite to win from the top tier is the face of the top tier and the definition of success in 2013; Tiger Woods. The stage is set for Tiger to blast ahead of the pack and show that he cannot be beat when he is right. Tiger fought adversary last week to bring home a respectable T-11 finish. With a victory here, he would total an impressive 6th on the year and his 3rd career FedEx Cup Trophy. Tiger does not really have to do anything extra special to win; he just has to avoid doing something stupid to lose.

Enjoy the final leg of the PGA Tour season and stayed tuned next week for the first rendition of our SnoTap golf grades and other thoughts from the team.

Bryan.